urbanSTL

HonestBusinesMan wrote:Now, when you say progress in your space, do you mean you actually get to go inside? If you do, I'm very jealous. I hope you can get some updates to share with the rest of us!

we did get to go in. everything is progressing nicely. in our unit:



1. all the drywall is in.

2. tile in both bathrooms is complete.

3. all the cabinets are in the unit (not installed)

4. outer windows are installed.

5. most electric is in



there's still a lot to do but it's coming along nicely - we are very excited!



btw, the front entrance looks amazing!

BL211 wrote:

HonestBusinesMan wrote:Now, when you say progress in your space, do you mean you actually get to go inside? If you do, I'm very jealous. I hope you can get some updates to share with the rest of us!

we did get to go in. everything is progressing nicely. in our unit:



1. all the drywall is in.

2. tile in both bathrooms is complete.

3. all the cabinets are in the unit (not installed)

4. outer windows are installed.

5. most electric is in



there's still a lot to do but it's coming along nicely - we are very excited!



btw, the front entrance looks amazing!

I'm very excited for you! Is this your final walk-through or do you have one more? Has a date been set for closing?

That's great news, STLChristy! Nice to hear the tile work is done in your unit. I could see from the street that most units are painted now and have cabinets (some appear to be installed) but the tile work was an unknown and I'm glad to hear they're that far along!

it wasn't our final walkthrough and we don't have our move-in date yet - they have yet to tell us anything other than april. they won't give any move-in dates until they get the occupancy permits and they can't get occupancy permits until all the elevators, fire protection etc are all in. i think we will start getting move-in dates really quickly once the OPs are done.

BL211 - When you saw your unit, what did the window sills look like? I'm assuming even though your windows are different, your sills are slanted towards the inside of your unit like they were in mine. I asked how they were going to finish them off and whether they'd create a flat window sill so you could set things on it. They didn't know at the time of my walk-through (early February) just how they'd finish them off. Any info you have would be greatly appreciated!

Oooooooooh, I'm getting really excited now. I told my husband last night that I feel like we lucked out and ended up buying a place in what might be one of the top loft buildings down there. Am I just biased, or do you guys feel that way too? Everything I keep hearing and seeing is so positive.

STLChristy wrote:Oooooooooh, I'm getting really excited now. I told my husband last night that I feel like we lucked out and ended up buying a place in what might be one of the top loft buildings down there. Am I just biased, or do you guys feel that way too? Everything I keep hearing and seeing is so positive.

I'm with you on this. I think Banker's is coming together very nicely and has always been a top pick based on price, location, size, amenities and pretty much anything else you can think of. I know this could start quite a wild debate, but I'd love to see a poll of downtowners about what is the best loft development.

HonestBusinesMan wrote:I know this could start quite a wild debate, but I'd love to see a poll of downtowners about what is the best loft development.

There already is a POLL thread about that very topic:



POLL: Favorite Loft Development

http://www.urbanstl.com/viewtopic.php?t=650

HonestBusinesMan wrote:

STLChristy wrote:Oooooooooh, I'm getting really excited now. I told my husband last night that I feel like we lucked out and ended up buying a place in what might be one of the top loft buildings down there. Am I just biased, or do you guys feel that way too? Everything I keep hearing and seeing is so positive.

I'm with you on this. I think Banker's is coming together very nicely and has always been a top pick based on price, location, size, amenities and pretty much anything else you can think of. I know this could start quite a wild debate, but I'd love to see a poll of downtowners about what is the best loft development.

Building rocks, no doubt.



I'm curious to price. Now that people have selected everything on the upgrades and option side I am wondering what the avg. per sq ft price jumped up to for those who may have dropped some money into flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, parking, et., etc.

Can anyone walkme through the reservation to the actual move in process for the banker's lofts (i.e. from the reservation fee to when you start to pay mortgage)?

Downtown STL Fan wrote:BL211 - When you saw your unit, what did the window sills look like? I'm assuming even though your windows are different, your sills are slanted towards the inside of your unit like they were in mine. I asked how they were going to finish them off and whether they'd create a flat window sill so you could set things on it. They didn't know at the time of my walk-through (early February) just how they'd finish them off. Any info you have would be greatly appreciated!

the window sills were flat and about 6-8" deep.

Thanks, BL211. I suppose they could do it differently for the upper floors since our windows are different, but I hope we get what you got!

well if you don't, you are welcome to come visit ours.

has anyone noticed that you essentially get charged twice on upgrades? it seems as though when you upgrade a fixture that you are charged the full retail cost of the fixture plus you still have to pay for the base fixture --- therefore there are no credits.



i don't know if this is common among other developers downtown but i know that other developers in the area do not do this.

kr2006stl wrote:has anyone noticed that you essentially get charged twice on upgrades? it seems as though when you upgrade a fixture that you are charged the full retail cost of the fixture plus you still have to pay for the base fixture --- therefore there are no credits.



i don't know if this is common among other developers downtown but i know that other developers in the area do not do this.

Just FYI, Loftworks does give the credits. For example, if you choose not to select the standard dining room light, then you might get like a $200 credit. They even give credits for things like eliminating walls, doors, etc. Honestly, not sure what other developers do but know this is the case for Loftworks.

kr2006stl wrote:has anyone noticed that you essentially get charged twice on upgrades? it seems as though when you upgrade a fixture that you are charged the full retail cost of the fixture plus you still have to pay for the base fixture --- therefore there are no credits.

In a word, yes.



In way more than a word.... credits were and are the biggest problem with Pyramid during the selections process. If you don't use an item, you shouldn't have to pay for it. PERIOD. It's not like we were asking for cash back... just apply a credit towards our other upgrades. Sheeeesh. It would go a long way in terms of good faith, PR and long term reputation if they would be more flexible.



In our case we didn't like any of the appliances that they were offering. They wouldn't credit us for the dishwasher and range that we didn't want and said that it would effect their bulk purchasing efforts if they did.



They have enough rental units to use unused items that they are building that they can afford to give some flexibility to their customers who are spending 100s of thousands of dollars with them.



We bought our own appliances and will have them delivered and installed after closing. Pyramid has agreed to deliver the standard dishwasher and range that we will not be using uninstalled and in their original boxes and we will sell them.

It is ridiculous that when upgrading certain items that you have to buy twice in order to get one upgrade. For example, why should you have to buy the base sink and then also pay for the full retail price of the upgrade sink? I agree that it creates bad PR and it tarnishes their reputation especially when other developers are more willing to work with the people who are buying. It really is a shame because Bankers is such a nice building and the units could be even better if Pyramid was not so greedy.

kr2006stl wrote:It is ridiculous that when upgrading certain items that you have to buy twice in order to get one upgrade. For example, why should you have to buy the base sink and then also pay for the full retail price of the upgrade sink? I agree that it creates bad PR and it tarnishes their reputation especially when other developers are more willing to work with the people who are buying. It really is a shame because Bankers is such a nice building and the units could be even better if Pyramid was not so greedy.

I guess I didn't really think about this problem very much because I didn't upgrade a lot of those things. I added a second sink in my bathoom, granite for the kitchen counters and bathroom tiling upgrades, but that's about it.

I could understand the "no credit" policy IF the upgrade charge seemed to reflect the fact that you had already paid for the base item.



I don't have anything against Pyramid making money, after all, they aren't doing charity work. However, I feel there are limits that, at times, Pyramid has crossed.

BL211 wrote:I could understand the "no credit" policy IF the upgrade charge seemed to reflect the fact that you had already paid for the base item.



I don't have anything against Pyramid making money, after all, they aren't doing charity work. However, I feel there are limits that, at times, Pyramid has crossed.

I suppose you could argue that the upgrade price does include the price of the base and they are just making that much profit. I don't really think that arguement is going to go very far though either.



One thing I did notice is that their prices are the prices of the items when they put the list together. For example, the Pharos fan listed as an upgrade option was about $1000 last summer and was priced about that on the upgrade list. However, it's under $400 now at most places and $360 seems to be a common price.



I'm not trying to defend them, just pointing out that some prices have dropped since they put their list together. As for the appliances though, I know they were gouging with those. They had a $1000 fridge for $1700. So, am I defeating my own point? Maybe.

i don't know what their prices are now or how they have changed.



what i do know is that, when possible, i compared the prices of everything i was upgrading vs. prices available through other local sources and, in comparison, some would call the upgrade prices ridiculous.

BL211 wrote:i don't know what their prices are now or how they have changed.



what i do know is that, when possible, i compared the prices of everything i was upgrading vs. prices available through other local sources and, in comparison, some would call the upgrade prices ridiculous.

I upgraded the things that I thought were big and that I didn't want to have to deal with when I move in: Countertops, bathroom tile, double bowl sink. A lot of the other costs I agree, were a little high.

I did something similar to BL211. I'm buying my own dishwasher, refrigerator and microwave. The price of their upgrades was similar to the price of the replacement appliances I'll install after closing, so I didn't really view it as losing anything, but I do agree that not getting credits for base prices seemed weird. Still, I'm so pleased with everything else about pyramid, I really didn't stew about it.



Has anyone noticed they've installed one set of new windows on second and third floor on the front of the building? They look great!



Also, does anyone have any comments on the National City loans? Sounds like a great deal to me. I got my pre-qualify letter today and should have my commitment next week.

Downtown STL Fan wrote:Also, does anyone have any comments on the National City loans? Sounds like a great deal to me. I got my pre-qualify letter today and should have my commitment next week.

Please explain.